CMK, I remember reading you have drainage issues. We had a little bit of that ‘wet without draining’ in early spring, a couple of times when it rained and the ground was still frozen. I thought I was going to have trouble and I don’t know why I didn’t. I normally have good drainage though, so that must make the difference. I’m sorry you don’t. :-( That must be a particularly aggravating problem. I wonder if you’ve ever considered raised beds? I had plants very slow to show up this spring, so I was considering that I might have lost them, and at the time, I was thinking maybe I should add more conifers, until I visited the Conifer forum in the spring and they were posting long lists of plants they lost! So, if you are thinking about it, I’d read some of their posts on which ones they lost. :-) Mnwsgal, sorry to hear of your losses too. I have never had much luck wintering over in the garage. And the snowplow frequently digs into some edge of the front yard. We have a bed that borders the street, but it has a rock edge to it, which I suppose must help. Of course, they don't actually see the rocks under the snow, and once they did plow into those. Wow, what a noise that made! And 12ft of rock edge had to be reset, but I didn't lose any plants. [g] I wish we had sidewalks.

I realise this is kind of an old thread but am very interested by the extremely variable experience of people growing the dark-leaved forms of G. pratense. I am certainly tempted to try one, though my own garden is so tiny that any case of mildew stands out like a neon jacket and I have got rid of everything that behaved that way. G. 'Lily Lovell' seems to be a really good plant for these criteria, though it's not fully dark-leaved, just with very big brown blotches. Unlike other forms of phaeum it neither goes sparse after flowering (though you do have to cut the flowered stems back), nor does it flower for a couple of weeks then kaputt. It seems to go on for about seven weeks in my garden, with a really good vivid purple on larger flowers than is normal for a phaeum. I also want to endorse Ispahan's comment about Elizabeth Ann which is a really wonderful plant, and FYI ginny12, it grows in my garden in total shade and deep moist soil. That probably retards its growth and flowering a little but it is still healthy and fine, though a bit slower to bulk up I imagine. This will be its third year and it has finally started to develop more substance.

Rouge, I love 'Royal Candles' have several plants of this little beauty. Yesterday I bit the bullet and mowed everything down except the bush clover and a tree wisteria planted against an old iron plant pole. The wisteria looks stupid there I bought it as a vine 2 years ago, it turned out to be a tree (mislabled). I'lll move it in the fall. Not a big bed but it's going to be a job digging out all the roots, along with the lily of the valley and columbine, plus some ajuga, euphorbia, that d... buttercup and other assorted weeds. I'll probably end up sifting the soil and amending it before I replant, so it looks like it will be spring before I can replant. In the meantime I can get together the plants I want for this bed and store them in the pot ghetto over winter. Here's a picture of the weed patch I'm working with, taken earlier this year so the bush clover isn't showing, I use to grow fuchsia baskets on the pole before we cut down the cherry tree that shaded this bed, now it has full afternoon sun. Last year was a bust for me due to illness so from April on nothing was done in the garden and it shows, but last winter before I got sick I cut a step into the rock wall and added a little flagstone path for easier access to the rest of the bed for this old gal, it doesn't show up in the picture. This picture, weeds and all, will give you an idea of what I'm working on. Annette

I received my box from Deb today. This is what was inside. Thank you very much, Deb. Now I need to get some potted. The flowers the neighbor weed whacked in the highway curb are trying to come back. It looks odd where the blooming Gypsophia ends, though, like the row abruptly stops. I'll be thinking about all of you. Seeds- Orange Cosmos Mammoth Grey Striped Sunflower Sparkler Radish Mimosa Vitex Chaste Tree Unknown colored Cosmos Shasta Daisy "Silver Princess" Pink Oleander Shrub/fragrant (seeds have a poisionous label) Hardcover book- "Scrapbooking with Memory Makers" Tons of ideas, pics. 118 pages package of copper plant markers Roses 1001 Gardening Questions Answered, 131 pages, hardcover Big Crinium bulb! Victoria Principal's book- "30 day plan to look and feel 10 years younger", hardcover. Caladium bulb- "F.M JOYNER" Caladium bulb- "Candidum" More seeds- Lavender '08 munstead Red Kurl Uchiki Kurl Squash Cactus flowered zinnia Lemon Balm Sweet Dumpling Squash 4 O'clocks, yellow Gourd "Straightneck Wrenhouse" Poppy "Peony red" Black diamond heirloom watermelon Zinnia "Cherry & Ivory Swizzle" Scarlet Scarlet Marigold '08 Black eyed Susan vine/Orange Thunbergia Alata "Superstar Orange" Cinnamon Basil Georgia collard greens Marigolds yellow/orange 2 baby cactus 1 Aloe vera pup, rooted 2 cactus pads- outdoor optunia Boston Ivy cutting, very nice!! Thanks again, Deb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!